Dandelions
by Miss. Miyazawa
Summary: Hiro tries to comfort Kisa during an emotional outburst. What he didn't expect was for her to become a source of strength for him as well. Kisa x Hiro one-shot.
Harmless, sugary fluff… Enjoy, and please leave me a review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

"Who do I have to beat up this time?!"

Hiro made the demand roughly, holding up a determined fist. His toffee eyes were cutting into the small tawny ball who was sobbing under the shade of a cherry blossom tree.

Watching her frail body become wracked with sobs made him feel a mixture of emotions. Of course, he wanted to comfort Kisa, to hold her close and wipe her tears away. Her mood was such a stark contrast to the beautiful weather, the happy children and families playing together in the park. He had hoped to bring her to this place, a secret favorite spot of his, to cheer her up. He would do anything to pull her from the gloomy storm-cloud mood that she had stood under for so long. Her sorrow was drenching her from the outside in. It was time for sunshine, and warmth, for love and caring. No more sad, wistful sighs. No more vacant stares. No more tears.

But instead, she burst into tears and simply wouldn't come any closer to the cheerful surroundings. She wouldn't dare touch the monkey bars, or throw herself down the slide. Not even the playful charm of the swings entranced her. Her mocha eyes had simply widened in something resembling horror as she cast her eyes around the sunny playground. Then she issued low whimpers that he hadn't heard at first. Next, Kisa started bawling as she fled to the comforting shade of the cherry blossom tree.

"Let me help! I'll pound them to the ground! Tell me their names right now!" Hiro persisted. She wailed louder in response to his outburst. He felt himself slowly losing patience. His desire to comfort her was transfiguring itself into something darker, more murderous. He could feel his face grow more scarlet with rage. Every minute that he witnessed her spirit wilting made him feel angry. Kisa was his flower in a world where darkness, rain, and thunderstorms presided. He wouldn't let the cruel bullies get away with stomping on his precious flower, his precious Kisa. They would have to pay.

 _Revenge. I have to get revenge_ , he thought furiously as he clenched his teeth.

The young Tiger lifted her chin and gave him a wobbly smile. But that wavy smile, one that she would often give Hiro when she was trying to be brave for him, wasn't convincing in the slightest. He knew that smile all too well, and how false its seemingly sunny persona was.

But instead of insisting that she was fine, she shook her head. Slowly at first, then building momentum as she became swept in another tsunami of tears.

"You have to talk to me, Kisa-chan! I can't just stand here and try to guess what's bothering you! I'm trying to help you!"

The sharp cry, issued in a heat of impatience and misplaced anger, immediately silenced her wails. She was very still, and quiet, even too quiet for the shy girl. A thunderbolt of panic shot through his limbs as he witnessed the sudden transformation.

Hiro didn't fear retaliation or an attack. But her displeasure, her unhappiness, her quiet anger… particularly when it was directed at him, the one person in the world who loved her more than anyone… It crushed him. It left him dehydrated and wilted when he was no longer under the sunshine of Kisa's admiration.

The Ram flinched as if predicting her actions. She would surely turn her almond eyes on him, sniffle as she brushed her tears away, and pierce him with a gaze filled with hate.

Her hatred…

"K-Kisa-chan—" he stammered as a blush warmed his face. He held his arms in front of him as if to brace himself for an emotional storm. His mind rushed through a million different scenarios to diffuse the situation, but nothing he could come up with seemed possible.

Kisa slowly raised her head. He couldn't watch this. He had to block his sight with the crook of his elbow. But from that ineffective covering, he saw her strawberry blonde mane catch the glaring sunlight. He saw her straighten her spine. He felt her stare on him.

"Hiro-kun," she said in a voice that sounded so dead and sad to his ears. The melancholy tone made him slowly lower his arms. Their gazes collided.

But in contrast to that phantom voice, he saw something in her aura that made him gasp in surprise.

Strength.

She met his gaze with a steely determination that made his stomach flip. The tears raining from her eyes still hung freely on her cheeks, shining like hard won badges that she wanted to display with pride. Although her lower lip trembled, she sat up with shoulders back and proud. Slowly, she rose to her feet as if she were a neglected flower that had been watered thoroughly, and thus given a second chance to blossom.

Kisa's hands were tangled into fists by her side. But what made him uneasy wasn't the threat of an attack.

He felt his relationship with Kisa being threatened.

As selfish as it felt, as terrible as it made him… He couldn't help but secretly like the fact that she would come to him, sobbing and crying whenever she was hurt. Hiro hated when she was in pain, of course, and couldn't stand the constant attacks of her cruel tormentors. But when she was fragile and weak, when she sobbed in his arms and confided in him… As terrible as it was, it made him feel good.

 _Maybe she doesn't need me anymore… to comfort her,_ he realized with a frown. Hiro felt his white knight role in Kisa's heart shattering with every moment she looked back at him with those determined eyes.

Kisa had just regained the ability to speak, thanks to "Tohru-onee," as Kisa lovingly called her. Hiro had his resentment for the silly airhead, but he had to begrudgingly admit that Tohru accomplished a rare and wonderful feat in coaxing the tightly wound girl into speaking again.

Even though she spoke freely now, Kisa still doubted the strength of her voice. She would murmur so quietly. It was hard for most people to hear her.

But he always did.

But even her one word during this whole exchange, his name, sounded… different somehow. Hiro knew it was Kisa speaking to him, with her whispery, soft voice soaked in uncertainty. But she seemed stronger now that her emotional storm had passed.

"Why won't you let me into your heart?" Hiro asked in a broken whisper. He hated to show so much vulnerability to Kisa. That was more her job than his. He was supposed to be the strong protector, but he was desperate. He needed to find out why she was crying, and how he could fix it. "Why won't you tell me what's wrong? Why won't you let me help you?"

Kisa paused. One thing he loved about her was that she didn't speak excessively in order to fill their silences. Their silences were always so easy and gentle. They didn't feel awkward with each other. They were perfect puzzle pieces that just fit together. They didn't need to mask insecurities in a blanket of meaningless words. They simply understood each other, even in their peaceful, quiet moments.

"I remember this park," she said faintly. Her eyes were covered in a fuzzy film as she replayed her horrid memories. "A year ago, some classmates captured me while I was walking home from school. They blindfolded me and tied me up. Then they took me to this park. They just threw me to the ground and kicked me. They punched me, Hiro-kun. For no reason. I didn't do anything to them. It was a rainy day, filled with thunder and lightning. I was so scared. I was soaked to the bone. I remember... Haru-kun found me. He took off my blindfold and untied me. I don't know how he found me, but he did. And the first thing I saw when he uncovered my eyes was this playground..." Her words broke off into silent tears.

A sharp pain tore through Hiro's insides. He felt his sizzling anger dissolve into shame, fear for gentle Kisa, and regret. Of course, he had no idea of this incident. This was his first time hearing of it. But the thought of him bringing up terrible memories for her, even unintentionally, left him feeling wounded.

"I-" He couldn't finish. No explanation he could give seemed good enough. He felt lower than dirt. _How could I not have known?_ he berated himself. _Why didn't I see how badly she was hurting?_

Kisa finally broke eye contact with him to walk through the field past him. Her eyes absorbed every detail of the jade blades of grass, the swaying flowered trees, the perfectly blue sky. She paused to stoop down and pluck a fuzzy white weed from the ground. She stared at its airy body as though she could only see her future in its depths.

"Dandelions are beautiful," she said so softly, he had to strain to hear her this time.

"Dandelions… beautiful?" he wondered aloud. Kisa made a habit out of saying out of sorts things when she was upset. But this was just so out of left field for her that it left him baffled. Hiro couldn't see the beauty that she was so obviously entranced by. Whenever he saw the awful weeds, so fat and white and wispy, so unsubstantial… He never gave those unwanted nuisances a second thought. They were weeds, nothing more. They were not blooming roses or sweet cherry blossoms. They were ugly. Hated. Abhorred from every direction. Why else would there be millions upon millions of products devoted to killing the persistent pests?

But Kisa nodded with conviction as she rolled the long stem of the white dandelion between her fingers.

"Yes," she said, louder and more firmly this time. Her eyes finally met his again. "Yes, Hiro-kun, they're beautiful. Do you know why?"

He shook his head in a daze. _Where is she going with this?_ he wondered.

Kisa looked back at the dandelion. It was starting to wilt. "Dandelions are seen as weeds. Trash. No good. Useless. No one seems to want them or like them at all. Oh, but Hiro-kun, dandelions are beautiful, not despite the fact that they are weeds, but because that special quality makes them so strong."

The dandelion slipped from her fingers. Her white dress billowed back in the breeze that wafted by.

A hard gust of wind nearly knocked him back. Tiny seeds flew into the sky from the neighboring dandelions. The white tufts looked like tiny umbrellas floating into Heaven.

"Weeds are strong because they have to be. No one wants them to live, to thrive. They sprout whenever and wherever they can. No matter what poison people try to use, or how much people pluck them out of the ground, they always remain. But do you know the most amazing thing, Hiro-kun?" Kisa's question came out as an almost whisper that his ears greedily devoured as if her words were milk and honey.

"What is it?" Hiro asked her in a daze.

To his shock, Kisa raised her sandaled foot and stomped on the fallen dandelion.

"Kisa-chan!" he shouted in shock. He couldn't believe that gentle, shy, broken Kisa could do such a thing when she would bawl whenever she watched a not-so-scary scene of Mogeta from between her fingers.

But Kisa just gently smiled down at the crushed weed. Her attack sent the dandelion seeds drifting slowly on the spring breeze. "Look," she said. "See, Hiro-kun? See the seeds? They're free. Dandelions have to be hurt and crushed so badly sometimes in order to grow. But through the pain and hurt, they spread their seeds and grow. They transform. They multiply and become more present through the world. Hopefully like me."

Through her shy voice, which never strayed above a murmur, he understood. Kisa had such a troubled past. All of the cursed Sohmas did, but her pain was so much worse due to her tender age. She had seen so much pain and suffering. She had endured so much persecution. And the torment wasn't through. She was still getting bullied. Akito was still their ruthless God.

But through it all, through all of the anguish and pain and suffering, through that eternal rain, Kisa would be resilient. She would unfurl from her protective stance and blossom. Kisa would grow and prosper.

But the realization made Hiro feel a bit left out. Here was the girl he loved, going through a metamorphosis, and yet he felt as stuck and unchanging as ever.

"Will you leave me behind, Kisa-chan?" he said aloud by mistake.

Kisa turned her eyes to him. He felt a stinging heat prick the corners of his eyes. _I can't let her see…_ He whipped his body around so that his back faced her. He swiped furiously at his eyes. Unwanted tears were starting to bloom. He threw those saline blossoms to the ground with angry swipes from his fists. He knew that Kisa would know how he was feeling, but he had to shield his display of emotions from her. _It's for her own good_ , he rationalized, although the truth was it was more to shield his own fragile insecurities than anything else.

"W-Will you grow and change and blossom without me?" he continued as he twisted his hands into unyielding fists. He willed his voice to remain straight above the waviness it was starting to encounter on account of his tears. "If you're a dandelion, am I a weed killer? Will you just grow and live without me to hold you back? Will you?"

Through her stunned silence, he continued. "Will you… forget all about me? Forget how hard I fought for you, how hard I tried to protect you? I know… I didn't protect you as well as I should've, Kisa-chan. I couldn't protect you against Akito-sama. But I really… I really tried the best I could! And I just want to keep on protecting you."

 _I want to keep on loving you… even if it's one-sided._

He felt a warm hand grasp his shoulder. Hiro turned around a millimeter a minute until he finally looked into her cinnamon orbs.

"How could I ever, ever forget you, Hiro-kun?!" she responded fiercely through unshed tears. "You're my everything. You helped me grow and blossom. I can't ever turn away from you. You've helped me so much… and maybe you think that I don't appreciate what you've done for me. I've never even thanked you…" With her admission, she blushed as she looked away.

"There wasn't any need for you to thank me! I'd do anything for you, Kisa-chan. I really mean that," he insisted fiercely.

Kisa's hand drifted to his wrist. To his surprise, she yanked him forward into her embrace.

Hiro's face grew warm from being so close to his first and only love. The two had shared many hugs and smiles together. Even when she refused to speak, Kisa conveyed all of her pain and happiness with her wide, open eyes. They were always affectionate towards each other.

But this embrace, on this particular day, with the sun shining down on them and Kisa admitting to Hiro that he was her _everything…_

"I'm your… everything?"

She held him tighter. "Yes. Don't ever leave my side."

With a smile, he hugged her back.

"Never. I'll always be by your side."


End file.
